The Last Requiem
by The Emperor's Empress
Summary: In the end, you still left me , but - "Arigato, for showing me how to live." Akashi x OC. Character death.
1. Chapter 1

**PROLOGUE**

The notes faded as she played them, the humming sounds echoing like a haunting spell in the abandoned auditorium. Still, there on the darkened stage a slender figure stood all alone, swaying to the melody that emanates from her violin. She was crying, as did her music — a cold and paralyzing grief that makes one wish for death instead of having to live in such misery. Yet her tears did not fall, for she did not let them. Tears are a sign of vulnerability, and she can't be seen as such.

She continued playing, pouring her unexpressed emotions in her music, letting the whole world to hear about her sufferings, her sadness, her lamentations, her broken dreams, her lost innocence and shattered hopes — of how she - an epitome of perfection and beauty and elegance - is nothing but an empty shell of a puppet manipulated by chains.

Her face remained a blank slate, a complete opposite to what she's truly feeling inside at the moment. Freedom. Oh how she wished to be free — free from her duties to the family and from her grandfather's expectations, and from the suffocating ropes of her past that binds her to their shadows. Her identity was but a fabrication of someone else — one that she was forced to believe in and follow, to act accordingly as they dictate her actions. She was an actress for her director, a mere character in a play where she was given a role to perform, a disposable pawn for the player to move and manipulate as they wish. She was living a life that was not hers. Beneath the grandeur of her name, she is actually nothing.

She sighed as the last notes died into a whisper, the auditorium now dark and silent like a tomb. Gently, she dropped her hand holding the bow, and followed by the violin. She remained standing there for a few moments as she calmed her wildly beating heart. She felt refreshed as she finally let out all her bottled emotions for a week. Music is the only way that she can express herself. Letting others see your emotions makes you weak in their eyes. At least, that's what her grandfather told her. For her, her grandfather's word was the law, and his reality is her reality.

She had no choice to obey. Or else, she'll suffer the consequences.

When her heartbeat was now a steady rythm, she jumped off the stage with the grace of a panther, her shoes making a light thump on the floor on her landing. Her long hair flew in the wind, and then fell neatly on her back once more. She walked to where her violin case lay, and she returned the instrument inside it carefully, her fingers caressing its well-worn strings before locking it up with a soft click. And then she was gone, like her notes in the wind.

Heterochromatic eyes watched the girl's departure from behind the stage's curtains. He had been watching her for quite a while now, drawn by her hypnotic music. It was a melancholy tune, a sad hymn to an unwanted life. Of that, he can relate, for he was a tool for his father, a thing to be used to his advantage. He was absolute — yes, but in fact, he was just a slave in the vicious circle of the opressor and the opressed. And he cursed himself for that.

They were the same — he and the violinist out there.

Their life is but an illusion.


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER ONE:**

"And the winner for this year's Winter Cup is no other than the Emperor — Rakuzan High!"

Loud cheers erupted from the audience inside the Tokyo gym as the thrilling match came to an end. Rakuzan won barely by a 2-point margin. But Akashi didn't care. He had won, and that's all that matters.

He is absolute.

He watched his own teammates — their faces ashen. For the last quarter of the game, Akashi had entered the Zone and singlehandedly battled their opponents by himself. They saw what their team captain was completely able to do on the court. They were unneeded. Their victory is empty.

His eyes wandered to the other side of the court. His opponents — Kuroko Tetsuya and his team — were still in shock at their loss. Victory was almost in their hands only for it to be taken away from them. He saw tears in their eyes, mixed with disbelief and sadness. He saw the phantom player look down on his shaking hands, his eyes blank as ever. But Akashi knew better.

Kuroko Tetsuya is finally broken.

During the lineup, nine players trudged to the centerline of the court, voices weak and strained as they thanked one another for a good game. Only the red emperor stood with his head held high, voice calm and steady, eyes sharp and alert.

In the end, he won.

Alone.

The walk back to their locker room was like a parade to death. Even the usually noisy Hayama was quiet. The once-prideful Uncrowned Generals bowed down to him even lower. They were more wary of him — so much that they can't even bear breathing the same air that he did. Akashi changed in the room by himself while they waited outside for him to finish. Even their coach was silent. They were supposed to be celebrating for winning the Winter Cup, but this is what happened.

Back at their school, they were praised and congratulated by many, but it schocked everyone when they heard the news that the regulars are quitting the basketball team. Mibuchi, Hayama, Nebuya, and Mayuzumi stood before their captain, resignation letters in their trembling hands.

"We can't play basketball anymore — not after what happened during the Winter Cup. We cannot stand on the same court with you. So please—"

Akashi cut off Mibuchi's rant. "Pitiful." Four pairs of eyes widened at his cruel words. "So you'll just give up now? That's what you're trying to tell me?" He spat the words at them. He grabbed their letters and in front of his teammates, he tore all of it into pieces.

"Akashi, what are you —"

He glared at Hayama who tried to stop him. "Exactly what I am doing, Kotaro." He looked at each of them square in the eyes. "No one is quitting this club. And that's final." He turned to leave.

"But Akashi, we are no longer needed here."

The redhead's steps did not falter as he answered Mayuzumi's unsaid question. "If you know that, then you should already know what needs to be done." He reached the door of the clubroom. "Improve yourself, and make yourself worthy so that no one will treat you as trash."

The door slammed shut, leaving the four broken players deep in thought with Akashi's last words. Another fire burned inside them.

Indisposable.

That's what their captain told them to be.

But little do they know that Akashi was also referring to himself when he said that.

* * *

><p>That had happened several weeks ago, but to the regulars of Rakuzan's basketball team, it was now a distant memory — one that they'd rather forget. Winter break had come and gone, and this would be their first meeting with their captain for this year. Akashi had forgone their winter training, telling them instead to find themselves and show them to himself when they get back. And so, the four of them trained like crazy during the holidays, from sun up to sun down. Now, standing before Akashi, they are confident that they will soon be able to redeem themselves and regain the emperor's trust.<p>

The gym was empty except for the five of them. They were gathered at the center of the court, all sweaty as they just finished doing their warm-ups. Akashi stood by himself on one side of the centerline, facing the four of them. He was holding a ball by his waist.

"I assume you've improved your skills during the winter." The redhead said as he eyed each of them with a calculating look. Inwardly, Akashi was pleased to see that this time, they didn't fall short of his expectations from them. To think that they were able to get this far in a span of two and a half weeks...

"Of course, Sei-chan!" Mibuchi replied enthusiastically. Being the one closest to Akashi, he really felt guilty for making Akashi go through the events of their Finals match. "We've worked on it the whole winter break!"

"We don't want to lose your trust again, Akashi." Mayuzumi added. Off to the sides, Nebuya and Hayama agreed.

"Let me see it then." Akashi said as he activated his Zone. Passing the ball to his teammates, he took a ready stance at the center of his side of the court. "Begin!"

* * *

><p>Akashi finished the game with a graceful dunk, his teammates watching his figure descend lightly, his shoes making a small thump as they landed on the hardwood floor.<p>

Their twenty minutes was up. 47 - 42.

Of course, the emperor won.

The four waited with bated breath for their captain's decree. Is their performance enough? Or was it all for nothing?

'Of course, he will win. He's the undefeated Akashi Seijuurou, after all.' Nebuya thought. He recalled that time when they challenged Akashi to prove those words. Arm-wrestling, niramekko — even poker! 'Is there no end to his victory?'

"Fair enough. I'll give you special next week to further polish your skills." Akashi finally spoke. And then he turned deathly serious. "But next time you fail me, I won't be so forgiving." He turned and headed to the showers. "That's all for today. Dismissed."

Behind him, Nebuya, Mibuchi, Hayama — even Mayuzumi — smiled at their captain's words. They'd done it. They were now a team. Again.

Inside the locker room, Akashi just sighed. "Fools. To think that I'll trust them again after that." He put on a clean shirt he got from his bag. "Trust, once broken, can never be regained. Only fragments remain."

It was quiet when he stepped outside. The four had bid him goodbye earlier, telling him that they had errands to run. They had finished cleaning up the gym, so he let them be. After all, by 'errands', they mean their 'personal training' so it was fine with him.

Rakuzan High after class was like a haunted compound. In the fading light of the sun, creepy shadows were cast on the vast hallways, creating a somewhat somber mood. But for Akashi, it was paradise. He preferred silence rather than the usual hustle of students along the corridors. Taking a detour, he went to the student council office to get some documents. To go there, he would have to pass by the auditorium. He remembered the girl from yesterday and he couldn't help but wonder if she would be there again today.

'She's not there,' he decided when he heard only silence from within the colossal building. Shrugging it off, he proceeded to the next building and jogged up four flights of stairs to his office. Having acquired the papers that he needed, he quickly came down the way he came, eager to return home to get everything done.

And that was when he heard it.

'I decided too soon,' he mused as the haunting sounds of her violin filled the air once more. He smiled in memory when he recognized the piece that she was playing. Pachelbel's Canon, which his late mother used to hum and play on the piano for him years ago. The redhead found himself stopping to listen, mesmerized by the tune. He leaned on the wall and closed his eyes, as he allowed himself a moment to reminisce the days he had with his kind mother, the only person he ever loved.

_"Mother, you really like that song." A young Seijuurou stopped dribbling a basketball that was too big for his small hands to look over to a woman with long black hair sitting at the side of the court._

_"Aa, so sharp, Seijuurou-kun!" She smiled at the boy, who had stopped playing already, leaving the ball behind as he ran to the woman. When he reached her side, she patted his head, ruffling his crimson locks in the process. She chuckled when the boy muttered something in protest._

_"You messed my hair again, mother," the boy stated as he tried to smooth down his hair, which was now sticking up in angles. When he succeeded in taming his mane, he cheered, "It's perfect again!"_

_The woman smiled, but it was a sad one, upon hearing her son's words. "You really don't have to worry about not being perfect all the time, Seijuurou-kun. Even monkeys fall from trees, you know?"_

_At that, the boy pouted. "But Father says that to be an Akashi means to be perfect and absolute, and that mistakes and failures are not tolerated!" he explained._

_The woman sighed in defeat. Her husband had already began molding their only son on becoming the perfect heir of the Akashi clan, and she could only watch as her dear boy's childhood was taken away from him. Instead of seeing him play with other kids his age, Seijuurou was locked in his own study with his private tutors as they filled his brain with knowledge that was far too advance for his age. Her heart ached whenever she sees his blank face during those sessions as he took in all those lessons just to please his father. The only time he seemed eager on learning something is when his father decided that he should learn music too. She recalled the way he asked her to accompany him during his piano lessons, and surprising her when he played with his tiny fingers the piece that he kept hearing from her. She had cried during his performance, but the little boy was too caught up with his playing that he didn't notice until he approached her._

_"Mother, why are you crying? Did you not like it?" he asked in a small voice._

_She only hugged him, tears still falling freely on her cheeks, and whispered in his ear. "No, Seijuurou-kun, I really performance. Arigatō." _

Akashi opened his eyes in shock when he felt something wet roll down his cheek. 'Am I ... crying?' He asked himself as he wiped it with his thumb. He glanced at the direction of the music. It's nearing the end. Pulling himself together, he glanced up at the slowly darkening skies and went on his way.

That's why he didn't hear the crash as the violin fell to the stage floor, or the strangled sobs of the girl as she too sank to the floor, as she lamented about the death of her parents that she do not even know or recall.


End file.
